Problem:Have tried (literally dozens of) solutions posted here and on the forums for distros related to Linux Mint, and nothing seems to work. WLAN0 is seen, but not usable. The one time it did light up (this is peculiar!) I wound up in Ad-Hoc mode with a 10.x.x.x IP, when I was trying to get it to see my access point (Netgear DGN2000) and its DHCP.

I suppose my big question is this: How do I properly resolve this, since nothing seems to be working... in Linux Mint. I've already noticed that Linux is far less power-guzzling than Windows, which (as an author who is out and about quite often) is a good thing. In Windows, the WLAN card works fine, so I think my frustration with this issue is (somewhat) understandable. While I am not a Linux newbie (in fact, currently working on Linux Admin exam), it's been years since I really delved into it, and that's probably part of the whole issue.

Also trying to find the fan-control subsystem, as the laptop doesn't seem to be managing fan at all under Linux, which is odd.

The problem is, I've even tried that driver (see http://bit.ly/bVdZwt for what I downloaded (v0017 of the driver; have also tried 0010, 0012, 0015 with very little to show for it). The one time I got it to work (briefly), it went ad-hoc, had a 10.x.x.x IP, and was obviously not looking for my router, which would have given it an IP in the 192.168.x.x range.) (Literally. My netmask is 255.255.0.0, though the router (a Netgear DGN2000) chokes on my trying to expand it to allow all 60,000+ nodes.) Not that I blame it.

The sad thing is that it just works in Windows, yet I have this sort of problem with it in LinuxMint 9, which is otherwise a grand OS. Very speedy, very long battery life (as far as I know; I do know it doesn't use the HDD nearly as much as Windows 7 does.)

As you see, this is quite correct by all the guides. The problem is: I've only gotten it to work a grand total of once, couldn't reach the 'Net using the ad hoc network it accessed (who knows where it was!) and it's never lit up since. Works great in Win7, which is also 64-bit, so I even tried using the Win7 driver using ndiswrapper after uninstalling this one. No joy.

LanguagesAvailable Languagesen_AG English language locale for Antigua and Barbudaen_AU.utf8 English locale for Australiaen_BW.utf8 English locale for Botswanaen_CA.utf8 English locale for Canadaen_DK.utf8 English locale for Denmarken_GB.utf8 English locale for Britainen_HK.utf8 English locale for Hong Kongen_IE.utf8 English locale for Irelanden_IN English language locale for Indiaen_NG English locale for Nigeriaen_NZ.utf8 English locale for New Zealanden_PH.utf8 English language locale for Philippinesen_SG.utf8 English language locale for Singaporeen_US.utf8 English locale for the USAen_ZA.utf8 English locale for South Africa

Download the driver as did rdanner3 now :rdanner3 forgot to run as root !

Actually, no I didn't forget that. I have tried changing to my home-dir before sudo su, but that also does not work.

Considering trying to find the Win2000 x64 driver and see if that works. Linux uses a lot less juice than Win7, that's certain. Exactly what my battery life is under Linux I'd have to check, and the tools for Linux often don't show estimated battery life.

Now why can't Microsoft learn from the Linux community and avoid using HDD unless and until it is needed, not all the time? (Under Win7 and WinVista, my machine's HDD blinks all the time, often 7-20 accesses per second, even with the machine in safe mode.) This is clearly unacceptable.

Now looking for the Win2000 x64 driver, and will be forced to use ndiswrapper. Would prefer native-mode Linux drivers, obviously, but if it doesn't work... ::shrugs::

I prefer Linux Mint while writing, actually. Machine doesn't run nearly as hot as it does in Win7.

Thank you for the tip - the problem is that my wired connection is not working either - atheros ar8152. Do I have to download utilities such as build-essential, gcc etc?

Yes, if the driver needs compiling. Otherwise, possibly not. Since many drivers for Linux work better if compiled for the specific machine Linux is on, it's likely the driver for your card is also supplied in source form.